Identifying and modeling critical success factors for the customer behavior in brand co-creation in digital and online businesses

Since, the digital business industry has been able to experience great growth in recent years due to the growth of Internet access and the acceleration of digital transformation in business, and also due to the newness of a large percentage of companies in this industry, the competition among them are very high and the cost of changing the brand for customers is low, as a result, focusing on branding and examining the customer brand co-creation approach in this industry is of particular importance. This approach is an organic perspective of the brand that is replacing the traditional perspective that considers brand management only under the management and control of the company. The customer brand co-creation behavior emphasizes that the brand is formed and developed in collaboration with stakeholders and it is a set of voluntary, active actions based on customer interaction, which is based on the relationship between the brand and the customer and in line with the value creation for the brand and its growth. This approach can be very effective for digital and online businesses where the cost of switching brands for customers is low. Consequently, it is necessary to investigate the critical success factors (CSFs) of customer brand co-creation behavior. The aim of this paper is to identify the CSFs of customer brand co-creation behavior, model them and determine the most important CSFs through scenario analysis.

This paper is a mixed research including two phases. In the qualitative phase, the CSFs were identified through semi-structured interviews which conducted with 30 experts of academic and industrial in the fields of marketing and branding that data collected are analyzed using thematic analysis approach. The selection of experts has been done in a judicious and purposeful manner, and the snowball method was also used to find suitable experts for interview. In the quantitative phase, CSFs are modeled by fuzzy cognitive mapping approach. The request data is also collected using a researcher-made questionnaire which distributed among experts. This modeling leads to a relative understanding of the relationships between CSFs and helps in determining the sequence of factors and also improves performance. Finally, scenario planning is used in the form of forward and backward scenarios for better analysis of the model3.

Theme analysis shows that in total, there are 71 conceptual codes in the form of 19 semantic themes for the CSFs of customer brand co-creation behavior in three levels of “organizational readiness”, “community support and governance” and “customer willingness and interaction”. The results obtained from scenario analysis illustrate that “strategic attitude towards co-creation”, “expert knowledge in the field of co-creation”, and “preparedness of managers” are the most important influential factors. Furthermore, “brand loyalty”, “brand trust” and “customer identification with the brand” are as the most influencing factors. Forward-facing and backward-facing scenarios and also their overlap indicate the importance of "strategic attitude of co-creation" and "managers' readiness". Therefore, companies need to pay special attention to these two factors.

The results of the research emphasize the need for a long-term perspective in co-creation behavior, attracting managers based on the necessary competencies for brand co-creation and in-service training. In the formation of a strategic attitude in the organization towards the customer brand co-creation approach, it is suggested that managers of companies understand this approach with details, know its possible advantages and disadvantages, examine the challenges of this direction, and formulate a comprehensive plan to achieve long-term objectives in the field of customer communication and also partnership strengthen with customers.Managers' readiness is considered as one of the most important CSFs in the formation of customer brand co-creation behavior. It is suggested that the companies consider benefits of the partnership with customers and this approach in the path of brand growth and development and specialized contents prepare about the advantages and disadvantages of using brand co-creation for managers which increase their knowledge and make more informed decisions in this field. The most important action is to attract capable managers according to the personality traits and skills necessary for co-creation. In-service trainings and promotion path based on merit will also be complementary steps for this issue.Since there is no research has in the field of competencies required for managers in order to co-create the brand and the role of managers' preparation in this process is high, it is suggested to implement a research in this field. Furthermore, due to the limitations of empirical research, using the causal relationships and hypotheses raised among customer brand co-creation behavior and other variables of branding and marketing is suggested that the validity of these relationships in different businesses should be investigated.